| الملخص: | <p><b>Background:</b> While many studies aim to address social communication differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals, little is known about the real-world impact on the quantity and quality of social relationships that develop across their lifespan. Social network analysis captures the size and connectedness of one’s social network and offers insight into one’s social connectivity with other people either within one (e.g., school, workplace) or multiple social settings.</p>
<p><b>Methods:</b> Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched across PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science to identify articles that examined how the social network structure is measured among autistic individuals and the characteristics of social network structure across the lifespan.</p>
<p><b>Results:</b> After removing 308 duplicates from 4177 identified studies, we screened titles and abstracts for 3869 articles and full texts for 70 articles. Twenty-five studies met the eligibility and led to 4 additional relevant studies identified from reference lists, with a total of 29 studies included for narrative synthesis. Most studies were U.S.-based (n = 19) and included children and young people (n = 21) recruited from local schools (n = 20). Many studies (n = 17) used the Friendship Survey to assess peer relationships within classroom settings, with social networks that reflect peer acceptance, rejection, and reciprocal friendships. Results indicate that autistic children experience greater isolation with more peripheral status and lower peer acceptance compared with their neurotypical peers. Other social network mapping tools in adults captured both social network structure (e.g., number of network members and their connections with each other), and some captured support provided by network members, with family members often cited as providing the most frequent and best quality support across a range of life domains.</p>
<p><b>Conclusion:</b> There is limited knowledge about social network structure for autistic individuals beyond childhood in classroom settings. Social network analysis may provide a valuable snapshot into the types of social connections an autistic individual may have in one or more settings. However, we emphasize the need to work together with autistic individuals to understand how they perceive their social network structure to be meeting their social need.</p>
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